Attenshun! Scots Guards hotel is opening (wait for it ..) now

HE led his men into conflict in the Falklands War and still has the scars to prove his bravery during the conflict.

But now Major Iain Dalzel-Job, former commander of G-Company at the Battle of Mount Tumbledown, is set to take his troops on a very different mission.

He has bought the Clifton Private Hotel in Haymarket, next door to the Scots Guards Association Club, and is to transform it into a hotel themed around the famous regiment.

Every room will boast pictures of Scots Guards heroes past and present, as well as other memorabilia from the regiment's history. Full-sized models of Guardsmen in uniform are also to greet visitors on arrival at the "Guards Hotel".

And Major Dalzel-Job, who is president of the neighbouring club, can be sure the business will be run to military standards as most of the key staff will be ex-Guardsmen.

The 60-year-old, who was injured at Tumbledown and still has pieces of shrapnel in his head, has bought the hotel himself as a private venture for an undisclosed fee. He is also to fund at least 30,000 of renovations.

He said: "We'll be putting some Scots Guards pictures in and some of the images of men who have achieved in the regiment. It should be quite a seriously good place. We will be the only hotel in Scotland that has this kind of link [with a regiment]. I would think it will certainly appeal to tourists but also people from England and Scotland who want to stay somewhere out of the ordinary.

"The Scots Guards theme is very important to us. We have quite a few pictures of our own in the club, and I have a few myself, but we'll be looking to acquire some as well.

"We want to try to make it almost like a museum and people will come to stay here because they want to see a bit of history as well."

Displays in the lounge and hall areas will recount the Scots Guards' history while some of the regiment's main heroes will also be remembered with displays of their own.

One already being planned is for Private William Reynolds, the first Scots Guard to win the Victoria Cross.

The transformation of the ten-bedroom, three-storey hotel is to begin as soon as Major Dalzel-Job assumes control on Wednesday.

Pipers from the regiment are to play as the new hotel throws its doors open for the first time.

Already appointed manager is Chic Hunter, who is also manager of the Scots Guards Club.

He said: "Being ex-Scots Guardsmen our standards are very high. That stays with you long after the regiment, so the standards in the hotel will be very high.

"I'm 100 per cent confident this will work. There's so much interest in the history of the Scots Guards and we want a bit of that history in every room.

"To be able to go into a hotel and learn something about history is pretty unusual. I think it's going to be a super place and a real asset to Edinburgh."

As part of the refurbishment of the hotel, two large rooms that are currently empty will be turned into grand bedrooms aimed at wedding parties.

A further two rooms currently used for manager accommodation are to be made into en-suite bedrooms.

Although the hotel will change its name to the Guards Hotel on Wednesday, it is expected that it will be fully operational as a Guards-themed venue by June.

George Robinson, secretary of military history group the One o'Clock Gun Association, said: "It is good news that this hotel will open and promote the history of the regiment. I'm looking forward to seeing how it looks when it's finished."

The facts

FOUR generations of Major Iain Dalzel-Job's family have served in the armed forces.

The 60-year-old retired in 2002 after 37 years in the Scots Guards. He studied mechanical engineering at an army university and became a Major in 1979. Northern Ireland, Germany, France, Canada, America, Kenya, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore have been among his postings.

His father, Patrick Dalzel-Job, was a British intelligence officer and commando in the Second World War, who was widely acclaimed as one of the main inspirations for James Bond. He died in October 2003 at the age of 90. Major Dalzel-Job's grandfather also served in the army. Captain Ernest Dalzel-Job was killed at the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

His son, Malcolm, 25, is currently stationed in Germany with the Scots Guards.

He says that his own family's proud military history will also be displayed in the hotel alongside the Scots Guards memorabilia.

The regiment was formed in 1642 to protect Scottish settlers in Ulster and became part of the Royal Guard for Charles I. Over the centuries it has been known by a number of different names, including the Scots Fusilier Guards, before having the present title restored by Queen Victoria in 1877.